Online retailing on the rise in North East India

Online retailing on the rise in North East India
NEW DELHI: India's North East is quietly becoming one of the fastest-growing markets for online retailers with an increasing number of youngsters from the region logging on to buy mobiles, accessories and much more.

Portals such as Myntra, Jabong and Snapdeal are finding good traction for orders from the region as the number of customers looking to buy the best brands at affordable prices is on the rise.
"Youngsters today are extremely fashion conscious and tech savvy and online shopping gives them a platform to access the best brands at affordable prices with the convenience of shopping from anywhere. North Eastern markets behave similarly," Myntra co-founder Ashutosh Lawania told PTI.

"From a geographic reach and availability perspective, perhaps more so - we are seeing a steady increase in business from this region," he added.

The North Eastern states -- Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura -- generate about 8 per cent of traffic and business for Myntra and the company expects further growth in the coming quarters, Lawania said, without disclosing absolute numbers.

"North East is doing really well in terms of acceptance (of online retail) and the market potential is also very big. The taste for fashion is very refined there and customers are trendy, experimental and are ready to try out fresh arrivals," Jabong co-founder Praveen Sinha said.

Snapdeal Vice-President Operations Saurabh Goyal said the percentage of contribution from the region to the New Delhi-based company's overall business is in double digits.

"The region is one of the fastest-growing markets in the country for us. We are growing in double digits month on month," he added.

Even eyewear online shopping portal Lenskart has seen good traction for its products from the region.

"About 20 per cent of our overall business comes from the North East plus West Bengal. Fashionable eyecare products are much in demand," Lenskart CEO Piyush Bansal said.

For Myntra, Guwahati, the most populous city in the region, and Aizawl in Mizoram are the two key markets, while there has been a steady increase in the number of online shoppers from Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Sibsagar and Tinsukia -- all in Assam -- in the past few months, Lawania added.

Lawania said men in the North East region shop for smart casuals and footwear while women opt for western and ethnic wear online.